St. Joseph's Faces Tough Challenge At Dayton

By Matt Leon

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) --- The St. Joseph's Hawks are in Ohio for an Atlantic 10 match-up with Dayton tonight.

The Hawks are 11-13 this season (5-7 in the A-10) after a frustrating Sunday road loss to Fordham, 69-55. St. Joe's shot just 35% from the floor while getting outrebounded 40-27 by the now 7-16 Rams.

"I thought that Sunday's performance against Fordham was our most disappointing of the year for whatever reason," St. Joe's head coach Phil Martelli tells KYW Newsradio. "This team has been very good about making physical commitments during practice. But in that game we did not make the emotional commitment that is needed to win a road Atlantic 10 game."

Listen to Phil Martelli with KYW's Matt Leon:

And win an A-10 road game is something the Hawks have yet to do this season as they are now 0-6 away from home in the conference. Martelli knows that has to change.

"I am concerned about our approach on the road," Martelli says. "I'm looking at everything, starting with myself, to make sure that we are more prepared in these last three Atlantic 10 road games, starting at Dayton."

The Flyers are having a fine season, they are 19-5 overall and their 9-3 conference record has them a half game out of first (behind VCU and Rhode Island). Dayton does a lot of things well, including play defense. Dayton allows just 59.9 points per game and Martelli says it is no accident.

"They play very aggressively without fouling," Martelli says. "They have a seven man crew that they play, but they don't give you anything easy. You don't get any offensive rebounds and you don't get to walk to the foul line. They take away the three-point line very effectively."

St. Joe's and Dayton tip-off at 6:00 tonight.

You can follow Matt on Twitter @mattleonkyw.